A dense aggregation of Medusa jellyfish (hydromedusa Solmaris rhodoloma) off the coast of California, taken using the In Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System (ISIIS) on board the NOAA R/V Bell M. Shimada. Each medusa is about 2 cm long. / Photo provided by Plankton Portal & credited to Bob Cowen University of Miami & Oregon State University

Today there are a myriad of ways you can get involved in the scientific field. Modern technology lets us coordinate, putting brainpower and computing power to good use. Volunteer as a citizen scientists, and let’s get science done together.

Public participation in scientific research lends science new tools. The collaborative community effort can overcome obstacles like lack of funding and conquer tasks that would be impossible for a small research team. PlanktonPortal.org asks volunteers to classify microscopic sealife by browsing pictures taken by an underwater unmanned research vehicle. Automatic image recognition software isn’t nearly as good at classifying organisms as the human brain is. “In three days, we collected data that would take us more than three years to analyze,” explains graduate student Jessica Luo, but internet connectivity lets citizen scientists get involved.

Crowdsourcing enlists many people in gathering information for data monitoring and collection programs. It’s often the only feasible way researchers can carry out robust continent-spanning surveys or collect widespread on-the-ground environmental data. It’s not a new concept: the National Audubon Society has sponsored an annual Bird Count since 1900. Currently, over 2,000 teams of birders (called circles) deploy annually across North America to take a census of bird populations. The data they collect informs conservation efforts. Similarly, the National Geographic Society’s annual bioblitz asks volunteers to take a biological census, combing over a limited area to locate and identify as many species as possible over the span of a short period of time.

Public participation and collaboration in scientific research has many benefits. It makes possible otherwise overly-ambitious projects. It increases scientific knowledge. It gets scientists and the public working together, which can bridge gaps and make science better understood and more accessible.

It’s been suggested that to be effective citizens, people need a feel for science and scientific method, because science impacts everything from economics and politics to ethics. What I know is that becoming a citizen scientist can be a lot of fun.

Visit your local natural history museum and help museum staff and scientists by transcribing written data from museum specimens into digital data that will be freely available over the net. Zoonivers: Notes from Nature

Give The Ventus Project information about local power-plants that will help them map carbon emissions that add to global warming.

Help Roadkill Survey reduce animal road casualties by reporting kill sites, which can then be targeted for preventative measures.

Help scientists perfect a storable form of solar energy with the Solar Hydrogen Activity Research Kit, the SHArK Project.